This year, NFL GMs can throw a dart at their draft board and land on a DB who hails from an athletic family.
There's Patrick Surtain II. There's Jaycee Horn and Asante Samuel Jr. And then there's Texas Tech CB Zech McPhearson, who might just hail from the country's most athletic family.
CBS Sports' Cody Benjamin dug up the McPherson family tree and it does not disappoint. Zech's dad Gerrick played at Boston College and earned a tryout with the 1988 Patriots. His mother Kim played running back and offensive line in the National Women's Football League.
That's only the beginning. Here are Zech's seven siblings, all with ties to collegiate or pro sports:
- Kimberly, who currently plays soccer for UW-Green Bay
- Gerrick Jr, who played safety at Maryland and was drafted by the Giants in 2006
- Derrick, who played WR at Illinois and spent time in the Brewers' farm system
- Emmanuel, who played defensive back at New Mexico
- Matthew, who spent six years in the Yankees and Diamondbacks' farm systems before switching to football at Texas Tech
- Jeremiah, who played football at Indiana University of Pennsylvania
- Joshua, who was Saquon Barkley's backup at Penn State before a CFL stint in 2018
For you scorekeepers at home, that's eight athletic McPhearson siblings and two athletic McPhearson parents. Even the Mannings and Watts can't touch the backyard Olympics they must've staged.
"Some of my favorite memories growing up with my family are the backyard baseball games we used to have," Zech told Benjamin. "Just remembering my grandma, mom and sister playing along with us always brings a smile to my face."
Grandma too? She had to play a mean center field just to crack her own family's starting lineup.
Zech is projected to be a mid-round pick, according to NFL Media’s draft guru Daniel Jeremiah. That's normally cause for celebration; it might just be another sibling gone pro for the star-studded McPhearson clan.
